How Can Cord Management Enhance Physiological Newborn Transition?

The transition that occurs from fetus to neonate is an important period that involves several critical physiological changes. Preterm infants born before 37 weeks’ gestation often have poorer outcomes and early cord clamping has been standard practice as this has allowed fast transfer to a specialist neonatal care unit.¹ However, delayed cord clamping allows increased blood flow to the baby and may aid this transition and potentially improve outcomes in these infants.¹

In this webinar Professor Heike Rabe and Professor Charles Roehr provide an overview of the definitions of optimal cord management methods and give a discussion of resuscitation versus physiological transition and the benefits of optimal cord management in term babies.

References

1. Rabe H, Gyte GM, Díaz-Rossello JL, Duley L. Effect of timing of umbilical cord clamping and other strategies to influence placental transfusion at preterm birth on maternal and infant outcomes. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2019 Sep 17;9(9):CD003248. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003248.pub4. PMID: 31529790; PMCID: PMC6748404.

• Professor Heike Rabe

  Professor of Perinatal Medicine & Honorary Consultant Neonatologist

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  Professor Heike Rabe

  Professor of Perinatal Medicine & Honorary Consultant Neonatologist Brighton and Sussex Medical School & Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

  Role and Location 

  Professor Rabe is a Professor of Perinatal Medicine (Clinical and Experimental Medicine) at Brighton and Sussex Medical School and a honorary consultant neonatologist at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust.

  Education 

  Professor Rabe graduated from the Westphalian-Wilhelms-University of Münster, Germany, and completed her clinical training as paediatrician and neonatologist and her academic degrees at the Children´s University Hospital of Münster, Germany. In 2002, she was appointed as consultant neonatologist and lead for research by Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals in order to develop the growing research portfolio within the department.

  Research Interests

  Professor Rabe’s research interests include anaemia of prematurity, non-invasive diagnostics, neonatal adaptation and neonatal pharmaceutical studies. She has conducted studies on the short- and long-term benefits of redistribution of placental blood at the delivery of preterm infants and the impact on parents.

  Memberships

  Professor Rabe has built up an international research consortium NEO-CIRC for studying age-appropriate formulation of drugs to support the neonatal circulatory adaptation after birth in preterm infants. She has served as officer and board member of international societies and is currently the president of the International Paediatric Research Foundation.